Cool/Quiet 4850/4870/GTX 260 video card recs

[arfows]

Looking for a cool & quiet card for gaming (Crysis, FC2) and a little video editing on a 22" display w/ max resolution of 1680x1050 (or whatever it is) for my new rig (E8400 proc).

Was looking at a 4870/4850 but I know they natively run hot/loud...anyone know of a good card that comes with an aftermarket cooler already installed?
i know there is a price difference b/w the 4850 and 4870, I still haven't made up my mind which one to go with...it may come down to price/performance ratio.

Could also go for GTX 260+ with same restrictions.

Case is 19" deep.

Thanks for the help!!

 

[vj8usa]

4850s can be very quiet with aftermarket cooling. I bought this Palit card a few weeks ago and hooked up a Fanmate2 to it, and it's dead silent now. Idles in the low 30s, loads in the mid 50s. Hmm, it no longer has a rebate on it, though... The Asus TOP 4850 seems to be selling for reasonably cheap, and the cooler on that looks good too.

I'm afraid I can't say how cool or quiet a 4870 or GTX260 would be, however, since I don't have any experience with them. Just thought I'd throw in my two cents on how cool/quiet a 4850 can be.

 

[Donegrim]

My gtx260 is very quiet, only gets a little bit louder under full, overclocked, load. But that depends on your definintion of quiet. You can hear it, but you have to really want to hear it.

 

[amtbr]

4870s DO NOT run hot or loud if you have a well ventilated case and control the fan speed with CCC or Rivatuner. My fan speed is set at 30% and is not audible over my case fans. Gaming, I've only seen it go up to 76 degrees, which beats the hell out of my 8800GT. My 8800GT got up to the 80s and sounded like a hairdryer was in my case. If you play at 1680x1025 and like eye candy, go with a 4870 1GB or GTX 260. Skip the 4850.

 

[arfows]

thanks for the insights thus far. leaning towards a 4870/GTX 260, but still looking for a specific brand of one of those that comes cool and quiet out of the box. in my current rig I have an x800xl and the fan on that is twice as loud as the case fans.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: arfows
leaning towards a 4870/GTX 260, but still looking for a specific brand of one of those that comes cool and quiet out of the box.

Under idle conditions the GTX 2XX cards are pretty quiet, and when you're gaming you won't hear it over the game sounds anyways.

All GTX 2XX cards currently use the same fansink, so no specific brand is quieter than another.